[Leica] THANKS FOR THE WELCOME

["EXT-Alexander, John" <John.Alexander@ARZ.Boeing.com>]

'Just wanted to say "thanks" for the kind words of welcome sent to me
personally by a number of this distinguished group.  It's a good feeling,
indeed, to be able to participate in a forum of this calibre.  Life is good!
Well...My wife and I are making final preparations for our sojourn to Sonora
Bay, Mexico for a week of fishing and general relaxation.  Lord knows my
wife needs this vacation because of the steady stresses she incurs as a
Director of Nurses in a local Phoenix health care center ('loves her work,
though).   BTW, I'm an avionics software consultant for the Boeing Company
(from which I retired several years ago). 
The M6 0.85 TTL with TA Rapidwinder/Softie, accompanied by the latest 50mm
Summicron and 90mm AA lenses,  is begging to show its mettle in the
hospitable light of the Guaymas beaches and environs - and to feel the
gentle pull of Provia 100, Ektachrome 100VS and Tri-X through its innards.
This M6 is going to be a happy camper, I assure you, because she will be
given a wide range of opportunities to strut her stuff.  She complains,
headily, though, that a promised companion, the 35mm Summicron ASPH has not,
as yet, arrived and will not be making the trip this time.  However, when
this glass prodigy DOES arrive, I don't believe I'll be able to resist the
call of a 2nd TA-equipped M6 0.85 TTL.  Normally, I'd be lugging along my
Bronica GS-1 6x7 camera with five lenses - from 50mm to 250mm (strictly
relegated these days to a sturdy Gitzo 'pod, ProHood, and MLU!!!.)  'Gonna
miss those big 'chromes, though - which always look stunning on my Kaiser
Prolite 5000 viewed through a 6x6 Schneider Kreuznach loupe (good glass,
this one)...and even more so projected on the big screen through my CABIN
6x7 projector.   Incidentally, I just acquired the new Leica 5x loupe
because I'll be stepping up my 35mm efforts considerably with the new M6
gear.  I anguiished aplenty about buying this loupe vis-a-vis the new
Schneider 6x ASPH (I love Schneider glass).  Any misgivings were quickly
quelled as soon as I peered through the 5X at some 45 year old Kodachrome 25
transparencies  I'd taken in high school.  I thought I'd seen all there was
to see in these images.  WRONG!  What a superb looker this 5X loupe is!!!
It's a bit pricey...but guaranteed not to disappoint!  
BTW, has anyone had any experience with the new Leica RT (Round Tray)
projectors?  Looks like some pretty good gear. Surprise???  I usually
project 35mm slides through  my CABIN 6x7 projector (using a 35mm adapter)
on a single slide basis; but I'm afraid those days are numbered, however,
because I'm accumulating a pretty good hit ratio with the M6.  Maybe I'll
invite some of my photographer buddies over for an evening of wine, cheese,
and joint slide showing- a la Jim Brick  (by all accounts, Jim and his pals
had a really fun evening)  - and I believe a new 35mm projector might be
just the ticket.

Well, I've rambled on enough for now.  As you can probably tell, I'm not a
exactly a shrinking violet with regard to babblings;  but neither do I want
to abuse my privilege of being able to speak out via this forum..  If this
post is too long, please advise me privately. 
My best regards to all...

John A.